


Under New Management

by alliedwolves



Series: Timelias Timeline [1]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Mind Control, Overwriting of self
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:53:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22887376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alliedwolves/pseuds/alliedwolves
Summary: The archives staff has been very carefully picked. An Archivist, a smorgasbord of lonely bait, and a very attractive young man. Elias- Jonah- had always been quite something to see, after all.
Series: Timelias Timeline [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1647124
Comments: 17
Kudos: 111





	Under New Management

**Author's Note:**

> https://collectivefantasticstories.tumblr.com/post/610891482975633408/amusedmuralist-merle-casts-zone-of-truth
> 
> This head canon hurt me. I had to.

Jon had yet to See. Usually, this was a point of frustration for Jonah, a sign of how much work his creation, his Archivist, had yet to go. 

A slow, self-satisfied smile, still unfamiliar on this body's face, crept up as he watched Jon try and make sense of how Tim had... changed. The poor man couldn't even find Sasha without a record of her voice, so the struggle was palpable. 

Tim watched Jonah watch, sickened and silent, an observer only to his body's actions, a witness unlike the Web's more active role in controlling others. There needed to be a Witness for this body swap to work. A constant slow feeding of fear of what he might see what had been his hands do. 

Jon struggled, strained relationship between he and Tim and the as yet shut Eye within him warring. 

"New haircut?" He said at last, like it was a joke. Certainly it was among the biggest of changes.

Tim's smile widened. He straightened his unwrinkled collar, pulled a hand over his hair, checking it for fly away hairs. Tim _w_ _ould_ be unruly, even in his sunken existence. Tim's hawaiian shirt and block coloured chinos had been replaced with crisp, tailored pinstripes. The winding ear piercing, Jonah had resolved with a tasteful pearl drop. And that _hair!_ What had been an unruly mane, a ghastly fringe draping in front of his Eyes, was now firmly grasped in a complex twist of pins, Jonah's blue eyes beaming out where Tim's dark brown had been. 

Jon flinched back, reached forward for his friend, until the cold blue gaze had him shrinking back once again. 

"Boss left me the institute; I suppose I felt like a change," said Elias, as Tim, deep behind, said once again his final words: 

> Either kill me, or fuck off. 

Neither was an option. A perfectly tailored horror for Tim, unfinished in his revenge and perfect in form, around Jonah Magnus's eyes. 

"If you'll excuse me, I have scheduling issues to redress. It is, after all, Thursday. Rude of Elias to leave us right before scheduling was due: still. I've always found paperwork a great comfort." 

Tim turned to leave, stopping in his tracks when Jon demanded: 

_"Who are you?"_

It tingled. But it wasn't powerful enough to even begin to compel him. Not yet. Jon's Eye was solidly closed. 

Tim sighed, reaching into the inner pocket of his tailored suit, and extracting a set of very old papers. Several dealt with past forms of his, or others who had perfected this ritual of Riding the Witness as he had. 

"I suggest you pay attention to your work, Jon. Perhaps then, you'll See what's happening. For now, I hope you'll respect our agreement that you should not follow me home." 

Jon was left, dumbfounded, and burning to help his friend. Perfect. 

Tim walked into his office and settled in, beneath the portraits of a series of very handsome heads of the Magnus Institute. Another in an unbroken succession. 

Jonah laughed. 


End file.
